History

Unlike a majority of the Autobot forces, Sideswipe was born/manufactured/sparked/created during the war. He's never known a time of peace. This makes him one of the youngest of the Autobots, and one who was made for the sole purpose of war. He was taken up by Prime's own weapons master, Ironhide, as a trainee. He apparently excelled, as he was given charge of a colony of Autobots left homeless by the war, and Cybertron's destruction. He was to protect them, and everything went well enough.

Until a Decepticon known as Demolishor attacked.

It's unclear exactly how things happened, but the end result was a massive death toll. Every Autobot was slaughtered, and only Sideswipe, their protector, who should have been the one to fall, survived. Consumed with guilt, and shame, Sideswipe returned to the Autobot army, serving with Ironhide again, until he broke ranks, declared himself above his old teacher, and apparently vanished off the radar for a long, long time. He was, apparently, searching the galaxy for what he deemed to be real warriors, taking them on one at a time. He became merciless—and all the while searched for a certain Decepticon.

He was eventually drawn to Earth, and Optimus' rallying signal. But somewhere between hearing Prime and entering orbit, he tracked Demolishor, headed to the same planet. So great was his need for revenge, that he diverted his course away from the Autobot leader, and instead landed near Demolishor, chasing him through Buenos Aries without regard for anything but killing his enemy. Eventually, he had to be brought into line by Ironhide's intervention—saving him from an untimely death by missile strike, reminding him of the real Autobot way, that Sideswipe had stepped over the line. After that, he joined Prime's team without hesitation or reservation, training with the Autobots in the NEST team.

At one point, he was given charge of training new recruits himself. A task he loathed, considering the students. He was shipped off to NEST's base in Scotland, taking charge of the "Twins". In the spirit of his own combat instructor, Sideswipe was ruthless, drilling them in countless battle simulations. He thought of it as both training and punishment—as the Twins had allowed a Decepticon to escape imprisonment earlier. And in return… they knocked him out, and made up a cover story. At least, that's what he thought happened.

He hauled them, and himself, back to NEST's primary base in time for more bizarre happenings, just in time to be shipped out to Shanghai…

And then all this happened. The last thing Sideswipe saw before his arrival was a jet-truck a restored Optimus Prime taking off after the Fallen. He is still a little confused about… everything that happened, and waking in this place hasn't helped anything.

Personality

Think of that guy you knew in high school. The one with the letterman's jacket, the perfect teeth, the fast car… who thought he was king of the world, and had the football record to prove it. The guy who pulled stupid stunts just because he could, and somehow came out of them relatively unscathed. The one who thought he could do anything, and often tried to. That's Sideswipe.

His mindset is still that of a young-adult—which is, more or less, what he is by Cybertronian standards—believing himself to be invincible, overly confident, and convinced he is the robotic God's gift to the battlefield. He's hotheaded, reckless, and occasionally driven to the point of near self-destruction. At one point, he sliced and diced his way through rush hour traffic, just to get to his goal. He didn't care what was in his way, or even who. His stubbornness likely came from his instructor, although, following the incident in Buenos Aries, he has mellowed somewhat, in most aspects. He's more likely to listen to individuals he respects, and has learned a little caution—although it comes and goes.

He retains his arrogance, however. He was brought up in a culture of war, and he's made himself into what he feels is the perfect fighting machine. He finds a certain grace in war—it's brutal, and messy, and he is the pinnacle of Autobot training and weaponry. He will use whatever tactics he has to in order to win the day, no matter how brutal others may think him. The important thing is that the enemy falls, he feels, that the job, his job, is done.

It's undeniable that Sideswipe has a vain streak a mile wide. Especially considering his choice of vehicle mode was one of the most “stylish” cars in existence. He passes it off as the Corvette being the pinnacle of speed and agility, therefore being the best suited to his fighting style, but, really, he picked it for its exterior. Much of his vanity, he makes plausible excuses for, but most people can tell. He's not that good at his excuses.

Under the arrogance, recklessness, vanity, and near-savagery, Sideswipe remains an Autobot to the core. He will do whatever he has to in order to defend others, to protect those weaker than himself, even if he has to die in the attempt. But that doesn't mean the “weaker” aren't above a little disdain on his part. He failed to accomplish his mission once, and it left him with an extreme case of survivor's guilt—and drastically altered him, causing him to plunge headlong after an enemy in revenge. It's not unlikely it could happen again. Everything he feels, he feels strongly, and without restraint—he simply hasn't learned any better just yet. After all, someone saved him once, someone older and wiser… why wouldn't it happen again?

The attack on his colony, and his subsequent descent into the land of "nucking futs revenge crazy" still haunts him. He still carries much of the guilt, and the shame of what happened. Being reminded of the incident makes him uncomfortable at best, angry and withdrawn at worst.

Abilities

Transformation:
Like any other Cybertronian, Sideswipe possesses the ability to change his shape, from his normal bipedal mode, into a vehicle form—doing so in only seconds, and frequently. His chosen vehicle is that of a Corvette Stingray concept car, silver, and definitely not the most subtle automobile on the roads. In vehicle form, Sideswipe is capable of reaching speeds up to 400MPH, going from 0-60 in less than half a second. The front bumper of the car is specially armored, rendering it capable of ramming an opponent—stunning them while Sideswipe moves in for the kill, and thus earning him his designation. The rest of the vehicle, however, is much more lightly armored, and vulnerable.

Blades:
Attached to each of Sideswipe's forearms is an eight-foot-long blade. Both retract up into his armor plating, and are comprised of cobalt and lithium. They are capable of shearing through Cybertronian armor, even slicing a Decepticon in half, bisecting it up the middle. Each can detach from his arm, and be “thrown”, or “fired”, for a short distance into the enemy (as observed in the film, thank you very much Michael Bay).

Weapon Systems:
Rarely used, but still attached to him, Sideswipe has a row of “bazooka tubes” lining his shoulders. What exactly that entails is unclear, but for all intents and purposes, they are elaborate mini-missile launchers. They work only at short-range, about a 1/5th of a mile, which is an incredibly small distance for his race, and can fire one round every three seconds. This is, though, provided he restocks them.

General:

Sideswipe, by virtue of design, is incredibly fast, even in his robotic form. His whole body is streamlined, with disproportionately long limbs. He even has wheels for feet—which function very much like high-powered roller skates. All of this helps him to hit the enemy quick and hard, before ducking back out of range. This is his fighting style, more or less. Conversely, he is more lightly armored than some of his more powerful Autobot comrades—he stands at the same height as Ironhide (25'), but weighs only around half as much (2.9 metric tons).

According to The Veiled Threat, in order to restock his ranged weapon supply, and help himself auto-repair minor injuries, he can ingest scrap metals. His body will then produce the ammunition, provided he has enough of the substance, and be able to heal itself in the same way a human body would. For major injuries, he still requires repairs from an outside source—such as a medic or mechanic.

Like any other Cybertronian, he is capable of calling up a holographic driver, though the exact capabilities of said hologram are never quite explained. They can speak with the voice of the Cybertronian in question, but are not solid, as objects are able to pass through them. There is no other discernible difference, however, between the hologram and a real human.